LAS CRUCES - Southern New Mexico public rangelands stretch for miles north, south, east and west. They are filled with diverse flora and fauna, which bring the Chihuahuan desert alive in all seasons. For the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), these rangelands are important to the public for a variety of uses. Maintaining their health and productivity is a major part of the BLM’s multiple-use mission.

Through a comprehensive rangeland management program, the BLM Las Cruces District works with a number of stakeholders to develop and implement strategies to maintain and enhance native plant communities, soil, water and air resources that support healthy rangeland habitat.

Specifically, the BLM works with ranchers to administer 605 grazing allotments on 5.6 million acres of public land in Doña Ana, Otero, Sierra, Luna, Grant and Hidalgo counties. Together, the BLM and ranchers, with federal grazing permits, care for the resources that support their livelihood and benefit the consumers of their end products.

No doubt, grazing is a vital part of the economic and social fabric of the southwest and the United States. For more than half a century, the BLM has worked with ranchers to care for public land resources to ensure ranching remains a part of our nation’s heritage and the public lands they depend on stay healthy for generations to come. However, just as ranching contributes to the socioeconomic well-being of southern New Mexico communities, conscientious grazing also helps keep publicly-owned rangelands healthy and balanced.

To that end, the BLM Las Cruces rangeland management specialists are dedicated to administering the grazing permit authorization and renewal process with a focus on resource stewardship and sustainability. They work daily with ranchers to achieve the terms and conditions of the grazing permits, applying standards for rangeland health and guidelines for livestock grazing administration.

Without healthy resources, the productivity of rangelands would diminish. Therefore, the BLM’s goals are to keep the resources in optimum shape – monitoring the forage, stocking rates and allowing for range improvements that provide for grazing management and water sources, which also serve as wildlife waters.

Nationally, the BLM’s grazing program generates approximately $2.2 billion in total economic output to the country’s national and local economies. In New Mexico that economic output is approximately $3 million, which translates to $1 million for the BLM Las Cruces District and the public lands in the six counties it encompasses.

The BLM also works with partners, including the New Mexico State Land Office, New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Soil Water Conservation Districts, Jornada Agricultural Research Station, Asambro Institute, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, New Mexico Department of Fish and Game and sportsmen organizations to maintain and enhance the health and productivity of rangelands for the diverse vegetation and wildlife it supports.

Their efforts are dedicated to ensuring the southwestern rangelands remain healthy, productive and viable for generations. Overall, these rangelands are part of the rich southwestern landscape. They encompass the past, enhance the present and hold the promise for the future. For more information, go to www.blm.gov/programs/natural-resources.

Especially on a wet year, the grasses on Otero Mesa in Otero County are lush and green – producing plenty of forage for the livestock and wildlife.(Photo: BLM courtesy photo)